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The Vanishing of Margaret Small

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The Vanishing of Margaret Small

By: Neil Alexander
Narrated by: Annie Aldington, Rachel Atkins
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About this listen

Meet Margaret Small: 75, plain spoken, Whitstable native and a Cilla Black super fan. Shortly after the death of her idol, Margaret begins receiving sums of money in the post, signed simply 'C'.

She is convinced it must be Cilla, but how can it be? To solve the mystery of her benefactor Margaret must go back in her memories almost 70 years, to the time when she was 'vanished' to a long-stay institution for children with learning disabilities.

An absorbing and page-turning mystery with a dual timeline, The Vanishing of Margaret Small takes readers into a fascinating past, and introduces an unforgettable literary heroine.

Perfect for fans of Libby Page and Gail Honeyman.©2022 Neil Alexander (P)2022 Bonnier Books UK
Detective Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Heartfelt Exciting Feel-Good Suspense
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Critic reviews

"An evocative, endearing, entertaining and thoroughly delicious character portrait and a terrific first novel." (Donal MacIntyre, TV presenter)

"A tender, thought-provoking and totally gripping novel from a wonderful storyteller...deserves to be a huge hit!" (Matt Cain, author of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle)

What listeners say about The Vanishing of Margaret Small

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fantastic lovely book

I loved this book it was so beautifully written. I couldn't stop listening. the best book I've read in ages

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5 people found this helpful

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Enthralling

A great book with likeable characters and fantastic narration. I thoroughly recommend listening to this book.

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4 people found this helpful

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I loved the bones of Margaret Small

Thank you Neil Alexander for introducing Margaret Small to us all. I really enjoyed the way the story jumps back and forwards in time. The story is so emotional, yet cleverly playful. I love the way the narrators deliver the story. Oh and I cried at the end listening to ‘note from the author’.

Would certainly recommend this book.

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4 people found this helpful

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Excellent

Well researched, written and narrated.
It's appalling and disgraceful how people with learning disabilities were treated. Things have improved but there is still much room for improvement in many ways. The story is both heartbreaking and uplifting.

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4 people found this helpful

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An emotional rollercoaster

A well researched story with in-depth characters.

Not a book I would usually go for, but I’m so glad I did. Would definitely recommend.

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2 people found this helpful

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Loved it

The narrator brought the character of Margaret to life. She was an amazing character that went through so much, but didn’t let it drag her down. Fabulous book, well written and a twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting.

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Enlighten

When i was a young child in infant school a teacher made my mother take me to a psychiatrist as he said there was something wrong with me this was in 1967 .
It turned out that i was dyslexic and i took years even for me to understand it never mind the social care .
At that time people were still getting locked away for no reason and at times just for being a bit slow.
This was a fantastic story, made me think of life and what we as a nation put people through.

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Oddly uplifting

The actual subject matter of this book was very sad but for some reason I came away with the experience of having enjoyed the story.
I also learnt a lot .
Fabulous narration.

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A difficult listen but very well written and well produced book,

The character’s story is one I found very hard to listen to at times as it is reminiscent of so many treated so abusively by our historical system that shut people with learning disabilities and mental health away. Margaret is the most endearing character and the other characters are superb too. It’s a good read for helping others to reflect on the way people with LD have and are treated in society.

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an interesting and enlightening story

Margaret's character made this an interesting read and gives an insight into disabilities and how badly people were treated.

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